Owner-Chef, Korean Fine Dining Restaurant Gyuban

Kim Jiyoung is a Korean chef whose work reexamines traditional Korean cuisine through historical inquiry and contemporary practice. Drawing on Joseon-era texts and classical cookbooks, she interprets ingredients, techniques, seasonality, and the philosophy of the Five Elements in a refined modern culinary language.

Since opening Gyuban in Seoul in 2018, Kim has focused on a research-based approach grounded in documented sources, translating culinary heritage into thoughtful fine dining rather than speculative reinterpretation.

Earlier in her career, she served as the culinary director for the television drama Dae Jang Geum, overseeing the authentic recreation of royal court cuisine. She later worked as an executive chef in Japan and China and spent more than a decade at a members-only dining club in Korea. Through her work, Kim presents Korean cuisine as a living cultural language shaped by history, philosophy, and sensory experience.